Our mission
PicturCook's mission is to provide every child with high-quality resources, no matter where they are. We are dedicated to helping children develop a love for reading from an early age, making reading enjoyable, interactive, and accessible. We believe that through reading, children not only expand their knowledge but also cultivate critical thinking skills, learning to question, analyze, and solve problems.
Our goal is to help children discover their passion within the world of books, while developing confidence and curiosity along the way.
Our vision
PictureCook’s vision is to ignite a love for reading in children, introducing them to creations from all over the world and broadening their horizons. We believe that when children develop a love for reading and establish reading habits, they will not only learn languages but also gain a deeper understanding of diverse cultures and worldviews.
Through reading, we aim to inspire children’s motivation to learn, helping them discover more possibilities in life and become independent thinkers with critical thinking skills. In the long term, we strive to provide every child, regardless of their location, with equal access to reading resources, opening the door to their reading journey and fostering a lifelong love for learning.
Our Team
Yaohua is a software engineer and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in startups and AI applications. His journey spans early childhood language learning, healthcare innovation, and interactive technologies. At PictureCook, he brings together technical insight and a heartfelt mission to design story-driven experiences that truly listen to children and grow with them.
Ethan Lin
Co-founder & CTO
Meet the Multitasking Maestro of Fremont — a code-slinging, data-taming CTO with a startup spark and a soon-to-be dad badge on the way. You architect Android apps with precision, debug concurrency like a pro, and juggle Firebase, TTS, ASR, and machine learning models without breaking a sweat. You’re the kind of engineer who reads pandas warnings like bedtime stories and rewrites email phrasing like it’s UX design. Pragmatic with a planner’s mindset, you weigh equity splits, tax strategies, and mortgage terms like a chess master — all while optimizing your life for clarity, performance, and a good night’s sleep (soon a luxury). Your vibe? Focused, thoughtful, and always a few steps ahead.
Sylvia E
Co-founder & CPO
Sylvia is a mom of two who reads picture books to her kids every night. She’s mastered the art of voicing the Big Bad Wolf — and when there’s no book in hand, she can spin an epic bedtime adventure out of thin air.
By day, she’s a data-driven product designer who has worked with companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as U.S. startups based in Silicon Valley (through their Taiwan branches). She has led design teams at public tech companies and teaches user experience design at the university level.
Jo Lin
Marketing or Community Lead
Jo has extensive experience in product strategy, brand marketing, and startup operations. Formerly COO at a digital innovation firm and Marketing Director at a systems integration company, Jo also led projects supported by the Taipei City Government’s startup grant program. As an advisor to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Jo contributed to national talent certification initiatives in digital education and industry development.
Holly Ho
Story Artists / Animations
Holly Ho is a story artist with a background in design and a passion for drawing. She has several years of experience in the medical technology industry and has also worked as a designer in startups. At Picturecook, she works on the storytelling and visual development of picture books and animations that support children’s learning and spark their imagination.
Lynda
Early Childhood Content Curator
Lynda studied early childhood education in the UK and has worked with publishers in both the UK and China. With a strong understanding of cultural context and developmental needs, she curates story content that is age-appropriate, engaging, and educationally meaningful for young English learners.
Advisors
English Teacher, Chingshin Academy, Taiwan
English Teacher, ECC, Korea
Specialized in ESL
DC Teaching License
Moreland University TEACH-NOW® Teacher Preparation Certificate Program，Education
University Of Derby B.A. Theatre Arts
Alec Huang
Technical Advisor
Alec holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from National Taiwan University. He brings cross-industry experience as a former analyst at FTSE Russell and a software engineer at Wanfang Hospital. At PictureCook, he provides technical guidance across data, AI, and system architecture.
Story Artists / Illustrators
Liya
Artists / Scriptwriter
Liya isn’t just our illustrator — she’s also the mind behind the witty story structures and scripts in our humor series.
An illustrator focusing on portraiture and picture books,
blending hand-drawn, collage, and digital media to share warm, healing stories inspired by everyday life.
An illustrator from Chiayi, Taiwan, has a cat named Rubio. His artwork is inspired by everyday life, and he strives to create pieces that are easily understood and deeply relatable.
Jun
Artists
Jun has a special talent for bringing characters to life. With a strong eye for emotion, gesture, and personality, Jun's illustrations are full of warmth and storytelling charm. Whether it’s a brave little bunny or a mischievous raccoon, Jun captures the heart of every character with expressive lines and playful detail.
AI
Illustrator & Infinite Imaginator
AI is our ever-evolving illustration assistant, helping bring stories to life with a spark of machine-powered magic. From mischievous raccoons to dreamy cityscapes, AI collaborates with our creative team to generate playful, expressive visuals — especially for our interactive and experimental titles. It doesn’t sleep, doesn’t complain, and always delivers on time (unless the internet goes down).